CLEVELAND — Recreational marijuana will soon be sold at qualifying dispensaries. Now, lawmakers are working to figure out how to crack down on motorists driving high as law enforcement agencies are waiting for further enforcement-related guidance. House Bill 230 is an effort to do just that. The bill would allow law enforcement officers to perform new fast-result drug tests in the field, among other things.
Plummer is a co-sponsor for HB-230, which is now in the hands of the Ohio Senate. The bi-partisan supported bill would increase penalties for organized drug trafficking, designate the month of August as “Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month,” and authorize law enforcement to collect oral fluid as evidence from saliva tests in suspected OVI cases. Plumber believes HB-230 will better help detect and prosecute cannabis-related OVI cases.
“It sounds like something that could expedite a couple things,” Pretel said. “One, it would clarify things early on. It would expedite the investigative process. It would save time on the side of the highway, which is imperative for safety, and it would allow us to pick the right course of action. I don’t know how accurate it would be, but it would be a precursor to some other action.”
Funding, however, for how law enforcement agencies would be provided such drug testing if HB-230 is signed into law remains unclear.